Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 6(4): 545-550, 2013 DOI:10.19026/rjaset.6.4163 ISSN: 2040-7459; e-ISSN: 2040-7467 © 2013 Maxwell Scientific Publication Corp. Submitted: March 30, 2012 Accepted: April 17, 2012 Published: June 20, 2013 Corresponding Author: Ainah Priye Kenneth, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Niger Delta University Wilberforce Island, P.M.B 071 Yenagoa, Bayelsa State This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 545 Research Article Developing Sustainable Power Supply for Rural Communities in Akassa of Bayelsa State Using Photovoltaic System and Battery Ainah Priye Kenneth and Afa John Tarilanyo Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Niger Delta University Wilberforce Island, P.M.B 071 Yenagoa, Bayelsa State Abstract: The study analyses the use of photovoltaic standalone AC system employing a battery and an inverter, which will supply continuous electricity in rural communities of Bayelsa State. It showcases the enormous potential of solar radiation in Bayelsa State and the benefit of taping it to solve the growing energy demand of rural communities. The analysis looks at the need to power a building load demand in Akassa community of Brass Local Government Area (BLGA) of Bayelsa State in order to solve the increasing energy demand of the community. The technology is based on a Photovoltaic (PV) system, a battery and an inverter to solve the building load demand for 24 h. This enormous potential of solar radiation estimated, can be explored with the use of photovoltaic modules to address the problem of inadequate rural communities’ electrification of Bayelsa state. Keywords: Hybrid system, irradiation, photovoltaic cell, photovoltaic module, renewable energy INTRODUCTION Bayelsa state is located at the center of the Niger Delta region in the southern part of Nigeria with a latitude of 4.75 (4/45’ 0 N) and longitude of 6.08 (6/4’ 60 E). It is one of Nigerian fastest growing state with an almost daily increasingly energy demand spreading from the state capital to every part of the state. Bayelsa has a riverine setting with almost 70% of her communities situated in the creeks. Most of her communities are almost or in some cases totally surrounded by water, hence, making these communities inaccessesible by road. It was the only state in Nigeria that was not connected to the national grid before and after its creation until in 2007 when the state was connected to the national grid. The only means of power supply in the state was through a state own gas turbine which was used to power the state capital and its environs, leaving out the rural communities in the creeks. However, the connection of Bayelsa State to the national grid did not solve the growing energy demand of the state because the rural communities were not connected due to their location and terrain which makes it practically difficult to transmit electricity in such communities. Examples of such communities are Akassa, Lobia, Ezetu, Nembe etc. The source of energy in these communities is through diesel generating sets and sometimes these generator set operate almost 24 h which result in massive discharge of CO2 and CO which are not environmentally friendly and the emission rate does not agree with the Kyoto agreement of December 11, 1997. Since the Kyoto agreement, European countries have become very serious about manufacturing and using photovoltaic devices, particularly in building integrated systems (Richard, 2001; Barr and Thomas, 2005). But the insurgence of solar technology in 1839 and subsequent research, development and application in the 1970s paved the way for rural communities to be powered via photovoltaic solar technology from the massive sun’s energy. Renewable energy is growing rapidly and it is becoming significant in our world today and in the future to come. Photo Voltaic (PV) is one of the most important area in the field of renewable energy and has attracted lots of research inits application both as a standalone and grid connected (Zuhairuse et al., 2009; Sambo, 2006; Togola, 2005). In the past years, PV power generation systems have attracted attention due to the energy crisis and environment pollution. Photovoltaic power generation systems can mitigate effectively environmental issues such as the green house effect and pollution (Zhang et al., 2009; Olesen, 2004). The long lasting solution to solve the growing energy demand in rural communities in the state is to adopt photovoltaic technology with backup to address this problem which is in line with the federal